mini question

[aaronshorseshoeing]

Got an email from a new client and was wondering if someone could help. Heres some of what she sent me.......
"I have two new minis now and may be getting some more. But we are new business owners now and hardly have any time to get out there to trim them and they are not looking too good right now. I am getting really concerned about their feet. Isn't there something I can give them to settle them down before you come over? I thought that I had seen something like that before. Let me know what you think."
So other than run the other way screaming what should I tell her about something to calm them down short of flanking and hog tying them? I have done 3 of her full size horses but they have been sold so all thats left are these minis and the herd is growing!! I haven't done any of them yet but I'm short on money these days after a really slow winter, so looks like I'm gonna have to suck it up and give them a try. Let me know what you think I don't know much of anything about minis other than their usual bad attitude.

[JimBondra]

Aaron,
Working on mini's is a hoot!
They aren't big enough to hurt ya.
And it's such a feeling of power when they pull backwards and you just hold onto the front foot and pull them back to you.

I remember trimming a weanling mini for a lady.
She had her arms wrapped around it's chest and butt while kneeling on the stall floor.
I was kneeling on the other side trimming.
The filly jumped straight in the air, fell on top of her and me on top the filly.
We laughed till we cried.
Good thing her husband didn't walk in.
Might be hard to explain.

The most dangerous aspect of working on them is the tendancy to rasp your knuckles off.

[Ray_Knightley]

Funny that ,I did a bunch of mini`s yesterday ,you could do with someone to help standing on one side tied on the other ,and carm but at first a firm hand and a few good words.
The ones yesterday stand still after about 3 carm trims (5months),they are not less inteligent just because they are small..now its easy earned money ;)

ray knightley.

[Dances with Hooves]

The most dangerous aspect of working on them is the tendancy to rasp your knuckles off.

I like to wear a glove on my left (holding the foot) hand.

[calshoer]

If the owner wants to give them somethig to make HER feel like she is helping you out, she can get paste herbal calming products ("Calm and Cool"," Be Calm" , etc.
They usually contain trytophane, the same amino acid that makes you sleepy after you eat turkey. It won't do much though, for an overly excited horse.

You can usually pin them against a wall with your knee with someone at their head to keep them from running forward. They usualy calm down after a bit if you give them little releases every time they relax so they don't feel totally trapped. Then just hang on to the foot and do them one handed. Wear gloves! And keep a SENSE OF HUMOR.
:D

[wwhite1973]

I always wear gloves when doing these guys. It saves a lot of skin. I have had really good luck twisting the ear. I have two on my books that are real PITAS so I take my wife who does a fine job of twisting ears and they are perfect little horses with manners. Good Luck!
Wayne

[cwlindauer]

I do quite a few minis. Do not have too much trouble with any of them with the excelption of 2. They both try to rear up while I am doing them so the owner puts a little grain in a pan and lets them eat a little while I do the fronts. The hinds are pretty easy even if they decide to kick. You are stronger and wiser :}. I know it isn't the best idea to reward bad behavior but if you have a really difficult one and if it is only for a few minutes while you do the fronts and if the owner works with them so you do not have to do it that way too often, I suppose it is alright. Sometimes if you start with the easier feet first like the hind end then they are a little calmer when you get to the fronts. Truthfully, it is good money and you may be surprised how good they might be. Also try a smaller nipper and lubricate them so it is easier to use them one handed. Not the horse.......the nippers!

[brian robertson]

I won't do minis. Don't care for them or their owners same for doncs. Ther is one boarding stable I service, the owner has a herd of them(20-30); I trim/shoe the boarders and a tag team does the minis. Only on one occaision have we both been there on the same day. I found it most ineresting.

The "mini horse farrier specialists" I witnessed, picked the little buggers up and then sat them on their hind ends like the folks from Oz shear sheep. One guy held them up against his legs while the other trimmed. Then the specialists traded places and the other one floated teeth while the mini was in that same position. No muss no fuss; approximately 3 per hour, $120 per mini. $40 trim+$80 float.

I'm try to remember the specialists' names (senior moment), the dentist used to do my horses about 15 years ago, the trimmer tried shoeing but gave it up. but now they exclusively works on minis only.

I can testify the 2 of them walked out of the stable with a heck of alot more money each than I did for 8 hrs work that day. Plus very little for overhead on their part.

Sometimes I think their business plan is alot more lucrative than mine. Maybe there is medication for my aversion to minis and their owners.

[JimBondra]

Maybe there is medication for my aversion to minis and their owners.

There is Brian
It's called cash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[aaronshorseshoeing]

Thanks for the replies everyone I'll let her know about the paste but I'm sure we can get them done without it. If she wants to spend the money for it thats her deal. Like you said maybe that will make her feel like she's helping me or the little ones out. I personally hate minis too but I can't pass up the money and this client is a very nice lady. Her other 3 horses that she had were pretty well mannered so maybe she's just exaggerating. Have a good Saturday everyone.

[Spyrockman]

mini's for the most part are easy, if you don't scare them with your size. I have knee pads, and really small nippers 10". For the wilder ones, that want to rear up I stand with the lead rope under my rear then they can't get and higher than that, and they will go round in a circle pivoting off my body, and release the pressure when they stand still the mini's usually figure it out, its best to stand and get trimmed. They tend to want to fiight you when trapped. Good Luck

[calshoer]

I like doing minis and do a lot of them. (word got around) I charge the same as for a full size horse,as long as they are not foundered. (then its by the hour) Most are fairly well behaved so I can be in and out in an hour for 4 of them, with 160 bucks change in my pocket, and only a little gas and wear on the rasp for overheard. (and not be all tired or beat up. )They are nice accounts.

[Northern Ohio Shoer]

I like working on minis also. There is only a couple other farriers that will work on them in my area so the sky is the limit. One county in my area had 134 4H minis last year at fair, I think I worked on about 100 of those horses. My last stop tonight is about 20 of them. The same is true for draft horses in our area, so I shoe alot of them too. According to my forge ahead software my big money maker is still regular riding horses. I charge $5 less for minis and $10 more for drafts to trim. I charge the same price to shoe a mini as to shoe a saddle horse. I wish I would have started with the same price on minis but now it is way to late, word got out that I am cheaper for clients with 10 or more horses. I am to embarrassed to say what I charge. I just remembered that I worked on 11 minis for a guy that graduated from Oklahoma school of horseshoeing. He said he's getting to old to get down on the ground to work on them.

[Ken Norman]

Where's Bruce Mathews when you need him. I'm sure his methods would work on Mini's and it would be a hoot to watch him ! :):o:D;)
http://nedrafthorseshoeing.com/ ............Ken

[calshoer]

Bruce could just lay them down and sit on them while he worked! ha ha :D

I used to do some glue on extensions on mini foals at the university. We had this great big sweet hunk of a vet tech who would come in the shop to help. He would just pick the little things up then sit in a chair and hold them across his lap while I did the glue ons.... it was a hoot.

[Gary Hill]

Patty, Jeffy never said he worked with you?:eek::D

[calshoer]

Jeff who? I never said I worked with any " Jeff." :confused:

[mustang farrier service]

this mini is like a stuffed animal and is as nice as they come.-gary
http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss231/Mustangfarrierservice/036.jpg

[Gary Hill]

Gary, rings and watchs with get you in trouble shoeing horses!:eek: Patty, I was making fun about Jeffy Holder , being your lab tech! Geesh!

[OLDTRUCK]

Aaron,

They aren't big enough to hurt ya.
And it's such a feeling of power when they pull backwards and you just hold onto the front foot and pull them back to you.



Yea want to bet?
Wait till one goes straight up and clubs you in the head with both front feet a flailing.
Assuming you ever wake up you will then know how they can hurt you.

If the owner fails to get them under control then pass on them.

You can’t make any $ when your dead. A kick in the skull that doesn’t quite kill is probably worse then dead.

Have a nice day.

[Rick Talbert]

For several years I looked down my nose at miniature accounts. I never did see the point in a miniature horse and just figured I'd rather stick with the "real" horses. Then I relocated to a different state and was asked to do a farm with about 50 or so. I decided to give it a try. That account led to 3 other rather large accounts. One had 200 head another had 70, and one other one had around 50. I've found these guys to be fairly easy to do. But being bent over THAT far all day takes its toll on you come late afternoon. Mainly the studs were the ones that were capable of hurting you. The rest are pretty docile and calm down with a little TLC. I'd get 5 or so done an hour but 35 was about as many as I want to do a day. Now I don't mind doin minis, but I don't do as many as I used to. My advice is to charge the same as you would for a regular horse or even 5.00 more if you can get away with it. I welded together a little hoofstand for these little guys. So, many farriers around here were just nipping them and roundin them up a bit from the bottom, but the toes were getting away from them. The guy who had 200 head didn't last long with me, he wanted to do them twice a year and wanted me to cut them "till they bled", needless to say I wasn't gonna do that so I only lasted a few times with him. I see people sittin down, or trying to crawl around on their knees, I even saw a "trimming table" for minis on you tube that you put a little horse in and jacked it up to hip level. Maybe I'm weird but i never found it too difficult to just bend over pick up a hoof and trim it, if I got down on my knees I'd exert too much energy trying to get back up!

[mustang farrier service]

mr.talbert,im with you,i enjoy working on minis and i charge the same as a full size horse and i agree they need quality care.i wish i had 200 hundred head to do.there would be some big horse culling taking place in my book.best wishes friend-gary

[Rick Talbert]

I could give you the guys name and number, lol, but I don't think you'd like him he was a real piece of work, typical quantity not quality. lol

[JimBondra]

Quote:
Originally Posted by JimBondra
Aaron,

They aren't big enough to hurt ya.
And it's such a feeling of power when they pull backwards and you just hold onto the front foot and pull them back to you.

Posted by Oldtruck
Yea want to bet?
Wait till one goes straight up and clubs you in the head with both front feet a flailing.
Assuming you ever wake up you will then know how they can hurt you.

If the owner fails to get them under control then pass on them.

You can’t make any $ when your dead. A kick in the skull that doesn’t quite kill is probably worse then dead.

Have a nice day.


Thank you for that advice.
I don't know how I could have made it this long in the trade without knowing how dangerous mini's can be.
I'll be more careful from know on.
Thanks.

[mustang farrier service]

jim,i am your friend,if that happens to you i will tell everyone it was a foundered clydesdale with rabies immune to medication and you were trying to save him.you will be a national hero and we will all drink budweiser in your honor.-gary

[Guy_Buck]

Had an old client call the other day wanting to trim her mini herd for a sale. I say old client, I trimmed them once back in 05. I asked her who had been trimming for her, she informed me that I was the last one to trim them.

Should be fun, usually just sit on a bucket and do 90% of the work from the bottom.

[Jaye Perry]

Had an old client call the other day wanting to trim her mini herd for a sale. I say old client, I trimmed them once back in 05. I asked her who had been trimming for her, she informed me that I was the last one to trim them.

Should be fun, usually just sit on a bucket and do 90% of the work from the bottom.


At the least , you will have some foot to work with!:eek::p:D